Louise took her leave first at the table, and she had no sooner gotten out of the door than Pembroke emerged behind her. “Would there be people in the library?” Louise said. She was beginning to get cold feet as she knew just how damning it would be to her reputation if she was found in an empty room with a gentleman.
“You have nothing to be afraid of, Lady Louise,” Pembroke said, “I am certain people would be there.”
Louise doubted this, but she followed him regardless. After all, Pembroke had not done anything to make her doubt him. Once they reached the library's entrance, Pembroke opened the door and stepped in. He held the door open for Louise, expecting her also to enter. “Are there other people in there?” Louise asked first.
Pembroke looked around and shook his head. “I am afraid not. I suppose the people in thetonconsider books boring then. Would you come in now, Lady Louise?”
At this point, however, Louise began to have second thoughts about it all. She had no doubt about Pembroke's intentions, but she feared what would happen to her if anyone saw them together in the library.
“I understand your fears, but you do not have to worry about a thing, Lady Louise,” Pembroke said, “people do not ever enter the library so no one would see us.”
Louise felt reassured, especially as he seemed to think of the same thing as her. “I suppose you may be right,” she said, “we would be safe if no one sees us going into the library.”
“I totally understand if you do not want to go into the library though,” Pembroke said, “in fact, I apologize for even suggesting this. Let us forget this conversation ever happened.” With that, Pembroke walked out of the library with a frown on his face as he closed the door behind him.
“What is the matter, My Lord?” Louise was surprised at his sudden change in demeanor.
“I do not want you to see me as an inconsiderate person by asking this of you,” he said.
“Oh, you do not have to worry about a thing, Lord Pembroke,” Louise said, “I was simply worried for what people might say if we were to be discovered.”
“I suppose you might not be as inquisitive as I have earlier thought,” Pembroke said, “a truly inquisitive person would do anything to satisfy their curiosity. I once had to walk miles in a blizzard just because I had to meet with a philosopher while I was studying at Oxford, not minding that I could freeze to death. I suppose I misjudged you if you are so bothered about what the simple people of London think of you.”
Louise felt terrible as she realized that Pembroke did not seem as interested in her anymore. Eager to prove that she was just the kind of person that Pembroke assumed she was in the beginning, she tried to stop him.
“Lord Pembroke, of course, I still wish to see the textbooks,” Louise said, pushing the fear far away in her mind, “what is life if we cannot be daring just a little?”
Pembroke smiled at her, a genuine smile of admiration this time. “Deep down, I pray that I did not misjudge you,” he said. Lord Pembrooke opened the library door to let Louise in. Despite the warning signals beginning to go off in her brain and her fear of being discovered, Louise walked into the empty library with a shaky smile on her face.
ChapterFourteen
Callum downed the contents of his glass before he hurried out of the dining room, after Louise and her new admirer. He did not trust Pembroke and knowing how trusting Louise could sometimes be, Callum knew he had to protect and look out for her.
Of course, he knew that was not the only reason he was currently tailing the pair, but he would rather lie to himself that he was doing this only because he wished to protect Louise. The real truth was too frightening for him to bear, and he did a good job of suppressing it. Emotions were his enemy; therefore, he suppressed them deep in his mind.
Callum stayed in the shadows as he followed the two. He ensured not to make noise lest they got alerted to his presence. As he followed them from corridor to corridor, Callum ensured himself that he was simply doing this to keep Louise safe. Even when he thought he was going overboard by following her, he kept assuring her.It is better for me to overprotect her than to realize I did not protect her enough. I would never forgive myself if anything were ever to happen to her.
When he saw Louise and Pembroke stop in front of the library, Callum could already tell what was happening. The young gentlemen of thetonoften devised several means to seduce the ladies, and this was just one of them. When he saw Louise hesitate, Callum hitched to reveal himself and take her away. However, he knew this would only upset Louise even more than she already was.
He had been hiding his true feelings toward her quite well so far, but he also knew that any untoward action from him at this moment could cause him to lose her forever, and he could never live with the thought of that.
When Pembroke closed the library door and made to leave, Callum could already tell that the young man was trying to get Louise to do what he wanted by acting like he really did not want it. This was yet another one of the ways gentlemen of thetongot what they wanted. Callum, of course, did not approve of it as he believed that if a gentleman had to ploy to get a lady to want him, then she just really did not want him, and he should leave her be.
The ploy seemed to work because Callum soon saw Louise agree to go into the library with him. Callum huffed in frustration at this. He knew right from the moment he saw Pembroke giving Louise a bouquet the previous day that he was bad news. And when he saw him make conversations with Louise throughout the dinner, he felt unsettled, not just because he did not wish for anyone to have Louise but also because he did not trust Pembroke to act in an honorable manner toward her. He did not blame Louise, though. She was a young lady who had seen nothing of the word, therefore, it was expected that she would be trusting to a fault.
When Louise followed Pembroke into the library, he closed the door. However, Callum knew he had to do something. If Pembroke was indeed as dishonorable as he thought he was, then Louise might even be in danger at the moment. Callum walked quickly to the library door. He knew Louise would be upset with him and might never even wish to speak with him again, but he had to do this. He would prefer that Louise hated him forever over watching her get harmed and not doing anything about it. Callum opened the library door and entered, ensuring to make as much noise as possible. He saw them at the other end of the library, poring over a book.
Louise and Pembroke were startled, and Louise even looked annoyed, but Callum was relieved to see that he had not done anything to her. Louise was standing by a table; a book opened before her. On the other hand, Pembroke stood behind her, stretching his arms around her to point out something in the book.
On closer look, however, Callum could see that Pembroke was, in fact, too close to Louise for comfort. His body was nearly pressed against her, and standing by a table made it impossible for her to move. To Callum, Pembroke had intentionally pinned her against the table so that she would have no way of escaping whenever he struck.
“Ah...” Pembroke said, startled but also looking incredibly shocked to see Callum, “I will...ahh...take my leave now.” Pembroke took to his heels.
While Louise was relieved that Callum had rescued her, she was still miffed at how Callum had barged in.
Callum did not say a word. Instead, he simply watched her.
Eventually, Louise seemed to have gotten over her shock, and that was when she rounded on him, arms crossed across her chest, visibly upset as she approached him.
